Architect's design for new courthouse unveiled

Wednesday

Jul 20, 2011 at 12:01 AMSep 10, 2014 at 11:03 AM

COLONIAL HEIGHTS - Plans for the city's new courthouse are shaping up visibly, with City Council getting a first look Tuesday night at an architect's design for the $13.5 million project.Jay Moore of Moseley Architects presented what he described as a N

COLONIAL HEIGHTS - Plans for the city's new courthouse are shaping up visibly, with City Council getting a first look Tuesday night at an architect's design for the $13.5 million project.

Jay Moore of Moseley Architects presented what he described as a Neoclassical design that would feature a Doric portico topped with a cupola on the building front that will face the Boulevard. The design incorporates recommendations from council, citizen committees and "stakeholders" including the Sheriff's Office, Commonwealth's Attorney and the judges who will be using the building.

Moore said council had indicated it wanted a courthouse with a "traditional" look, and the building's columns, symmetrical front and red brick construction are intended to meet that goal.

Inside, in addition to the city's courtrooms - circuit, general district and juvenile and domestic relations - the facility will provide office space for the court clerks, the commonwealth's attorney and sheriff, a law library, jury meeting rooms and waiting areas for case participants and the general public.

The building will be located on the same spot where Colonial Heights Baptist Church used to sit, though Moore said the courthouse will have a smaller footprint. The north end of Chesterfield Avenue would be closed off, and vehicles would enter and leave the complex only from the Boulevard.

Entry into the building itself would be through a large, two-story public space under the cupola. Because that area will be outside the security screening stations, it could be used for exhibits and meetings, noted Mayor C. Scott Davis, a member of the design committee.

As part of the city's goal to design an energy-efficient building, Moore said, the public areas will feature natural light provided by the cupola in addition to a pair of lightwells that will help illuminate the first-floor waiting areas - something he said can "help defuse tension" as people await their trials.

City Manager Thomas L. Mattis said the design presented Tuesday still adheres to council's previously set target for construction costs not to exceed $13.5 million. "All the planning done to this point was predicated on that as a maximum number," he said. "I believe it can be built for that amount or less."

However, some ancillary costs, mainly related to development, management and other fees, could raise the final total to as much as $18 million. Mattis said city staff members would be coming back to council sometime in the next few months with a final cost figure and details about how the project will be financed.

Council voted 4-1 to give Mattis authorization to negotiate a construction management agreement with Kenbridge Construction. Two council members, Milton E. Freeland Jr. and W. Joe Green Jr., were absent from the special work session Tuesday.

Councilman John Wood cast the lone dissenting vote. At the beginning of the meeting, he read a statement acknowledging that because he lives on Battery Place, which runs past the back of the project site, he has a personal interest in the issue, but he believed he could still judge the matter fairly and objectively.

During the discussion of the site plan for the courthouse, Wood argued at length for the idea of blocking pedestrian access from Battery Place onto the five-acre property by building a wall around the entire site.

Wood suggested that people might decide to park on Battery Place, especially if the courthouse's 220-space parking lot fills up. He also argued that residents might take to using the property's park-like green space as a "playground" and that building a wall around the complex would make it more secure.

The site plan that had been approved by the various committees, including representatives from the surrounding neighborhood, allows no vehicle access from Battery Place into the complex. However, the neighborhood representatives had indicated they wanted foot access to the courthouse's green spaces.

Mattis said that because Wood had raised this issue previously, "we made a point of asking everybody" and "nobody had a concern" about foot access at the rear of the site.

- Michael Buettner may be reached at 804-722-5155 or mbuettner@progress-index.com.

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